Caroline Flint twists the knife with a renewed attack on Gordon Brown

Fresh attack: Caroline Flint has hit back at Gordon Brown in her first interview since resigning

Labour MP Caroline Flint last night launched a fresh attack on Gordon Brown when she accused him of 'using' women to push his political agenda.

The former Europe minister quit on Friday night after accusing the PM of using his women ministers as 'female window dressing' and of running a 'two-tier' government.

The MP for Don Valley has since faced a barrage of criticism for her attack on Mr Brown's style of government, which came less than 24 hours after she appeared on television to defend him following the resignations of Communities Secretary Hazel Blears and Work and Pensions Secretary James Purnell.

In her first interview since resigning Ms Flint defended the photoshoot in the Observer Woman which attracted criticism from No10.

Downing Street cited the glamorous pictures which appeared in the magazine as evidence that she was not focused on her role as Europe minister.

However she told the Observer yesterday: 'I'm not ashamed of doing women's magazines. If we can get women to think politics matter and to make a connection between politicians and their own lives, that can only be a good thing.'

Asked if Brown discriminates against women, she replied: 'I think you can talk the talk, but it's about actions.

'You've only got to look at where women are in the cabinet and where they aren't, and they aren't in positions of power, they aren't running spending departments.

'There's only Yvette now who's actually running a spending department.'

It is thought Ms Flint walked out after being denied a promotion to the Cabinet which she apparently believed that she had been promised following a declaration of loyalty.

Despite her attack Ms Flint claimed she did not want to be a 'wrecking ball' aimed at the Prime Minister or the Government.

Writing in The Sunday Times, Ms Flint insisted she needed 'few lessons in loyalty' and appeared stung by being dubbed in the media a 'stiletto assassin' and 'the woman scorned'.

'Let me be clear. I have no interest in being a wrecking ball directed at the Prime Minister or the Government. I want Labour to be re-elected and I still support the Government,' she wrote.

But she stood by comments she made in her resignation letter suggesting Mr Brown's government was not 'inclusive'.

'Maybe it's naive, but I believe if we had a more inclusive style - more ministers working with one another and not in isolation; a government of equals - I believe we would look and feel more purposeful. The Prime Minister would look more effective.'

She continued: 'My long-held view is that politics operates a double standard, as happens in other walks of life.

'Men are constantly written up by the political pundits on their potential - the rising stars. Women have constantly to work and work to prove their worth.'

She added: 'The Government can and should make better use of the talents of the many women in our party, locally and nationally.'

Ms Flint - a close friend of a number of women MPs including Ms Blears - wrote: 'In my relationship with the Prime Minister I have felt that I had to repeatedly prove my loyalty while being pre-judged because of my friends, fed by daft Westminster rumours.'

She defended her decision to appear before the cameras proclaiming her loyalty to Mr Brown to 'kill' suggestions that she was linked to a 'conspiracy' to oust the Prime Minister.

'In the wake of Hazel Blears's decision to leave, the Westminster rumour mill started up about a conspiracy, a "Pugin room plot": so much so that I had to appear on television to kill the story,' she wrote.

'The sad thing is that it almost certainly originated from people who see themselves as allies of the Prime Minister.'

Foreign Office staff broke into spontaneous cheers and applause when Ms Flint dramatically quit her job – because it meant they could scrap her ban on biscuits.

Diet-conscious Ms Flint had sparked a revolt by ordering officials to stop the time-honoured Whitehall tradition of serving biscuits at meetings and was accused of ‘flying off the handle’ if they defied her.

‘There was a spontaneous reaction in the FCO Press office when the news broke that she was off,’ said one official. ‘There was a loud cheer and applause. You could say Caroline was not the most popular of Ministers. They didn’t really respect her.’

Officials say fiery Ms Flint fell out of favour at the Foreign Office only weeks after arriving because of her ban on biscuits.

‘Serving some biscuits with coffee is the default setting at the FCO for meetings and gatherings,’ said the official. ‘But with Caroline, instead of tea or coffee and biscuits, it was just tea or coffee.

‘The staff were just bemused by it. She would fly off the handle if it was ignored and someone smuggled a few biscuits in. I don’t think she had anything against any particular biscuits such as ginger snaps or Bourbons. It was all biscuits, full stop.

‘To be honest, people thought she was vain and assumed she was just watching her figure and didn’t want to be tempted. That is no reason to stop the rest of us having a harmless treat. After all, there are precious few treats in the Civil Service.’

A spokesman for Ms Flint confirmed that she had ordered officials to stop serving biscuits at her meetings – but denied it was anything to do with weight-watching.

‘They used to bring up all these biscuits every time you had a cup of tea and nobody used to eat them. So Caroline said, “Can we cut the biscuits?”

‘She also thought they were being charged internally for them so she was saving the taxpayers’ money, but she wasn’t being tight-fisted.’

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The spokesman denied the biscuit ban was to ensure Ms Flint stayed trim. ‘It had nothing to do with watching her figure and she wasn’t being a health freak,’ he said. ‘Caroline eats her share of food.’

Asked if Brown had a problem with women, Flint told the Observer: 'I
don't know. It would have been nice to have had more conversations
about the policy areas I was involved with.

'But we didn't, so I don't
know that. You've only got to look and see where women are in cabinet
and where they aren't: and they aren't in positions of power, they
aren't running spending departments. There's only Yvette [Cooper] now
who's actually running a spending department.'

Flint claimed that women in Brown's government were used as 'a
smokescreen, a way of making it look like you've got a lot of women
around the table' without letting them influence anything.

She added: 'I feel like they used me when it was convenient - they put me on the
GMTV sofa or on Newsnight - but then judged me not on my work, but on
who my friends are.'

Fashion shoot: Downing Street cited a series of photographs of Ms Flint which appeared in the Observer's magazine as evidence she was not focused on her role as Europe minister

Friends of the former Minister claim she was ‘duped’ by No10 into making a loyalty pledge to Mr Brown on Thursday night.

Blairite Ms Flint was on the brink of resigning as a Minister as part of the plot to bring down Mr Brown, but backed off when Downing Street asked her to make a public declaration of support for the Prime Minister.

There is a dispute as to what No10 told her. Ms Flint’s friends say she was given a clear indication that if she backed Mr Brown in his hour of need, he would fulfil her ambition by making her a fully-fledged Cabinet Minister with her own department.

Having enraged her allies with the public support, she was horrified when Mr Brown contacted the following day and told her he wanted her to stay exactly where she was, as Europe Minister. Well-placed sources say Ms Flint accused him of breaking his word.

She is said to have complained that as Europe Minister, she had only been invited to one Cabinet meeting in the last six months. She wanted a senior Cabinet post – or she would resign.

Mr Brown assured her that although technically she would not have full Cabinet status, she would be invited to attend all Cabinet meetings.

Ms Flint told him it was not good enough. At this point, exasperated Mr Brown is said to have exploded: ‘But the Minister for Europe is one of the most important jobs in the whole Government. You will have a permanent seat in the Cabinet and attend every meeting.’

Ms Flint dug her heels in, told him she was resigning – and left.

A Labour insider said: ‘People have got tired with Caroline’s “Hello boys” walk down Downing Street when she attends meetings. The PM was right to refuse to negotiate with her. She has a reputation for talking up her own prospects.

‘She had only been Housing Minister for five minutes when it was put about that she wanted to be Transport Secretary. No one has a God-given right to be a Secretary of State. It is for the Prime Minister to decide.’